Do What You Love.

How do you find the time to fit in exercise? Is it an hour a day? More? Less? With 5 kids at home, I find a brand of solace at The Bar Method, but what about those days when "fitting in" exercise seems impossible? Is it all or nothing? Don't get me wrong, planned workouts are important. These are where you push yourself and train your body to work harder, get faster, leaner and stronger. But what about the rest of the time? Are there minutes in your life where you can stand instead of sit? Walk instead of drive? If you spend a few moments a day planning, there are often pockets of time, windows to make small shifts. And trust me, these small shifts can add up in a big way. I recently started investigating these opportunities with my kids. We often park 5 or 6 blocks from school and walk the remainder of the way. At first, it was a big adjustment. We had to leave earlier, and the little ones protested. Now it is something we look forward to. We don’t rush, we walk, we enjoy the fresh air and we talk to each other in a way that’s impossible in the car.

Here are some other ideas:

Turn a scheduled weekly meeting into a “walking” meeting

When planning activities for the kids, prioritize the ones where you get to move too (e.g. roller skating instead of a movie)

Use a FitBit or other activity tracking device to set daily activity goals

Make phone calls while walking around the block

The funny thing is I started this experiment in order to integrate more activity into my daily life and I ended up enjoying daily life that much more. Now when my kids are running around on the play ground, I set down my coffee and join in. How can you incorporate more exercise into your daily life?